Lunacy & Lycanthropy in Monvesia

Lycanthropes are a staple of fantasy gaming, and not one that I plan on abandoning in Monvesia.  There has not been much cause to explore their place in this world, however.  Recently, I saw fit to reference these creatures while writing about both Dominions and Calendars.  In both cases, lycanthropes are referenced in conjunction with the moon.  Though rarely discussed by common folk, when they are it is always in conjunction with the ailment of lunacy.

Lunacy, a madness related to the full and dark moons, was once thought to be a precursor to the Taint.  Goliath medicine workers have come to rule out a connection between the two ailments.  While taint is most common in Inheritance and human territories, lunacy and lycanthropy are most common in Galtain, the Honderreich, and Cuorria.  It is almost unheard of among elves and goliaths.  That a connection exists between lunacy and lycanthropy is unquestioned:  All lycantropes are affected by lunacy--though not all lunatics are affected by lycanthropy.

Taint is a sociological ailment, while Lunacy is a psychological one.  While goliath medicine can be adapted to lunacy, it is specifically designed to combat taint.

Planes of Monvesia: Liminal Companions

The dichotomy of Faerie and the Abyss was introduced in 4th Edition, when the Feywild was set up as a counterpoint to the Shadowfell (an evolution of the Plane of Shadow).  In Monvesia, this relationship is repeated by making these two planes the Limninal Companions.  As companions, these two planes share a connection to the Lithosphere and the Pyrosphere.

While Faerie is a realm of life and creation, the Abyss is a realm of death and decay.  They are bound by Vaspyron, the dominion of the morning and evening star--dawn and dusk as reflections of these two planes.  Monvesia's mortal inhabitants further bind these transitive planes:  While the elves of Prace (or haltias) retain the race's original connection to Faerie, the elves of Xahaca (or hulders) have abondoned that plane in favor of the darkness of the Abyss.

LegacySPΩRE: Firebird Institute

Firebird Institute & Ember Village

The Firebird Institute was founded in the early 1990s by Dr. Alexandre Bennu in order to continue the legacy of recently retired hero Firebird.  Originally a half-way house for parahuman rehabilitation, it grew over time to include research facilities and its own team of super-beings.  After Dr. Bennu’s death, leadership of the Institute passed to his protege, Dr. Brian Stoker—an open advocate for the Parahuman Homeland Initiative.

SPΩRE: Parahumans

The various SPORE settings share several common elements--though, in many cases, these elements are substantially different than their counterparts in the other "realities."  For example, each setting has a class of people who are more than human, no longer human, or some combination.  They are known by the generic term parahuman.

Parahumans in GaiaSPΩRE

The term parahuman was created in initially for the GaiaSPORE setting.  Here, parahumans are a race of people created during the Century War (another recurring theme) to serve as living weapons.  The various factions of the war each followed the same basic process: animal DNA was spliced with human DNA to create specialized super-soldiers.  Dozens of different animals were used, but only a handful of parahumans proved to be viable enough to produce offspring.

LegacySPΩRE: Sky-Shot & Sage

In my reboot/sequel Heroes Unlimited campaign--the guinea pig for my SPΩRE rules--a new generation of characters have made their way to the Firebird Institute in western Massachusetts.

My earlier players might better recognize the organization in question as the Phoenix Institution--where they once served on a team called the Phoenix Force.  These have since been retconned to Firebird Institute and Firebird Patrol.

Since the last campaign [20 years ago in both real and game time] the United States have collapsed, and a collection of new federations has come to dominate North America in its wake.  Furthermore, mutants and psionics have come to be recognized as a "growing issue;" these parahumans need to be dealt with--but the successor states cannot agree on how.  In Texas, Dixie, and Appalachia parahumans are feared and their population controlled; in New England, California, and Cascadia parahumans are celebrated and their population protected.  These recent events form the backdrop of the LegacySPORE setting.

Factions of the Artifice Saga

There are four "organizations" at play during the time of the Shadow of the Artifice Masters campaign.  Players will have the chance to perform deeds on behalf of these factions--and earning renown with them will affect opportunities available to the players later in the campaign.  From a fantasy perspective, the groups are all military orders; and earning renown is akin to advancing in ranks of knighthood.

I wanted to add other factions based on the source material, such as the Disciples of Zor or the Children of the Shadow--but these factions would not have been active at the time of the Sentinels campaign.

Bonus Renown

Characters may begin play with bonus points of renown in particular factions, in particular situations:

• All Invid characters begin play with 1 point of renown with the Invid Horde
• All Micronian characters begin play with 1 point of renown with the Artifice Expeditionary Company
• All Sentinel characters begin play with 1 point of renown with the Sentinel Alliance
• Warlocks with an archfey patron (the Faerie Queen or Goblin King) begin play with 1 point of renown with the Invid Horde
• Warlocks with the undying patron (the Artifice Elders) begin play with 1 point of renown with the Artifice Masters.

Classes of the Artifice Saga

While certain classes are a better fit for the Artifice Saga--in part because of story, and in part because of the races--all D&D classes will have a place.  The intent is to preserve the campaign as a fantasy, despite its sci-fi inspirational origin.

While particular sub-classes will be associated with particular cultures, all options will be available to all characters because of the melting-pot atmosphere of Tiresia. As all characters will begin at 1st level, and most sub-classes are chosen after that, there is plenty of time to be exposed to cultural archetypes other than one's own.